DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's description): This application requests support for a Gordon Conference which will focus upon the physiology, as distinct from the molecular genetics, of development. It will emphasize integrative concepts that include physical mechanisms, observations of whole living organisms, and the often fast (millisecond to ten minutes) mechanisms of physiology as they apply to cells and developmental systems. Moreover, it will emphasize the comparative physiology and developmental strategies of widely varied organisms - from slime molds and algae to flowering plants, flies and vertebrates. In addition, effort will be made to connect these aspects of developmental physiology with applications of molecular genetics of development.